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Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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Presiding officers and Clerks

The House sits too often for the Speaker to preside over all the proceedings each day. To fulfill the role when the Speaker can’t be in the Chamber, the MPPs elect from among themselves several deputy presiding officers.

Currently, the Legislature has four deputies. Each of these deputies has all of the procedural authority of the Speaker when they are acting in the Speaker’s place.

Deputy Speaker, Rick Nicholls, MPP

Rick Nicholls has been an MPP since 2011 and represents the riding of Chatham-Kent—Leamington. He was elected as Deputy Speaker in 2018.

First Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House, Lisa Gretzky, MPP

Lisa Gretzky has been an MPP since 2014 and represents the riding of Windsor West. She was elected as First Deputy Chair in 2018.

Second Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House, Percy Hatfield, MPP

Percy Hatfield has been an MPP since 2013 and represents the riding of Windsor—Tecumseh. He was elected as Second Deputy Chair in 2018.

Third Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House, Jennifer K. French, MPP

Jennifer K. French has been an MPP since 2014 and represents the riding of Oshawa. She was elected as Third Deputy Chair in 2018.

Table officers

In front of the Speaker’s chair in the Chamber is a table, called the Clerk’s table, or just the Table. The people who sit there are table officers: experts in parliamentary procedure. They provide non-partisan, confidential advice to the Speaker and all MPPs.